Tuesday, November 21, 2006

So you thought that the transition between pure desi melody and the western piano in "O Ri Chhori" was effortless? Listen to "Ae Hairat-e-aashiqui" from Guru and you'll know what efforless fusion is all about. part ghazal, part sufi-qawwali, part spanish instrumentals flow into each other with such wonderful ease. Hariharan, Alka and Rahman himself bring us this gem of a song.

ARR is a genius! "Ae Hairat-e-aashiqui". 8.5/10... maybe 9/10...

Update: actually, I myself thought that the transition in "O Ri Chhori" wasn't quite THAT effortless.. it DID work for me, but for some reason I always preferred just the desi melody part of the song. It might have something to do with the awkward english lyrics and the picturization of that part. The Aamir/Gracy part of the song just looks SO much better!

Monday, November 20, 2006

5.5/10 at best... Not as fun as that other situational song "Samjho ho hi gaya", and I didn't even find that one great before watching it on screen. It was quite enjoyable though. Not "Ek Lo Ek Muft". And considering that it finds a place in an ARR-Mani album, just plain disappointing! :(

Sunday, November 19, 2006

you mix Gujarati music with Arabic music? If you are A R Rahman, you get the second half of "Mayya Mayya" from Guru. Pure and unadulterated fun!! Bliss!!!

And I'm saying "second half of" because the first half of the song is nothing compared to the second half. Once the lyrical part is done away with and just chorus and instruments take over for the second half, the song reaches another level altogether!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Its official... I'm now officially completely crazily hyped about Guru's music.. This, after keeping my excitement in check all this while.. Just heard 1 min. sample clips from the two songs whose video clips I had posted earlier i.e. "Barso Re" and "Tere Bina" and if these clips are anything to go by, Guru might not just live up to its Mani Ratnam-Rahman expectations, it might turn out to be one of their better albums. (I know, I know.. saying something like that when they have given Roja, Bombay, Thiruda Thiruda, Dil Se, Iruvar, Alaipayuthey, Kannathil Mutthamittal and Yuva/Ayidha Ezhuthu is craziness... Thats why I said that I'm officially hyped now! ) :) But, seriously speaking, the initial signs are not just encouraging but positively electrifying!

On to the clips now.. "Barso Re" by Shreya Ghoshal reminds me of some of Rahman's highly fun and enjoyable songs in Tamil movies. Specifically from movies like Sapnay/Rhythm/Kaadhal Virus/En Swaasa Kaatre. And I've always felt that its a pity why Rahman doesn't get the opportunity to be as "free" in his Hindi projects. Most of them seem to be classy/period movies that don't quite allow him to play around with sounds/rhythms etc. And when he DOES get such an opportunity, he is just magical (like in Meenaxi). This is probably going to be something like Meenaxi too. Eclectic, brilliant, highly enjoyable...

Second song is "Tere Bina"... and its superb! It has a distinct "Ishq Bina" feel to it.. Not in the tune per se.. just the sounds etc are very reminiscent of "Ishq Bina".. and Rahman sings extremely well here!! Its difficult to understand the lyrics though.. more because Gulzar seems to have taken some liberty with the language rather than the words themselves being very unclear... I'm DYING to listen to this song in its entirety!!

Update : Ok, my mistake. After listening to the clip a zillion number of times, I have realized that its not just Gulzar's liberty-with-language that is to blame. ARR's diction is what makes those words even more difficult to understand. Thing is, you don't normally hear words like beswaadi in songs. Or anywhere. "tere bina beswaadi beswaadi ratiyaan, O Sajna.. rookhi re vo rookhi re... kaatoon re, kaate kate na", the song goes. And ARR sings beswaadi as something like "besu aadi" and rookhi as "rukkhi". sigh! Its a great song nevertheless... :)

Friday, November 10, 2006

GURU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did I say Youtube rules? Let me say it again. Youtube rules!!

And Rahman? I'm getting all hyped up about this. I've been trying my best not to get too excited lest I be disappointed, but I must say that everything I've heard till now (which, admittedly, is less that 30 seconds in all) has been brilliant!